Ghostbusters (1984)

All Critics (54) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (3) | DVD (32)

Whoever thought of having evil's final manifestation take the form of a 100-ft. marshmallow deserves the rational mind's eternal gratitude.

October 5, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Only intermittently impressive.

May 30, 2007 Full Review | Comments (19)

Variety

Top Critic

Essentially a $30 million version of Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy but not at all a bad time, thanks mainly to Bill Murray's incredibly dry line readings and director Ivan Reitman's maintenance of a moderately coherent tone and plotline.

May 30, 2007 Full Review | Comments (2)

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

The story of a trio of incompetent 'experts' in the paranormal (Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis), who set up as ghostbusters after they are canned from their college sinecures, is less cynical a construction than it sounds.

June 24, 2006 Full Review

Time Out

Top Critic

This movie is an exception to the general rule that big special effects can wreck a comedy.

October 23, 2004 Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

There is more attention to special effects than to humor.

May 20, 2003 Full Review | Comments (27)

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

In both the funny and the (mildly) scary moments, the cast does itself proud.

May 6, 2013 Full Review

David Sterritt

Christian Science Monitor

"Ghostbusters" is a fun romp with a couple of comedy's greatest stars at the top of their game.

February 26, 2012 Full Review

Michael A. Smith

MediaMikes

As funny, spooky and marvellous as ever.

November 2, 2011 Full Review

Ben Rawson-Jones

Digital Spy

It provoked huge box-office success in 1984 and is still director Ivan Reitman's defining movie.

October 31, 2011 Full Review

Derek Malcolm

This is London

The leads' chemistry is almost, well, spooky, Dan Aykroyd's nerdy enthusiasm rubbing deliciously against a persona-perfecting turn from Bill Murray - and there's even the odd surprise.

October 28, 2011 Full Review

Andrew Lowry

Total Film

The often dazzling, special effects-driven slapstick tends to overshadow the fact that there are some slyer, more sophisticated laughs on offer in this blockbusting family comedy.

October 27, 2011 Full Review

John Ferguson

Radio Times

What's not to like?

October 27, 2011 Full Review

Andrew Pulver

Guardian [UK]

Paranormal fun for tweens and up; some scares.

January 1, 2011 Full Review

Alex Orner

Common Sense Media

A comedy first, a horror film second... but a successful enough hybrid of those things that it would be wrong to try to limit it generically.

August 26, 2010 Full Review

Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

Ghostbusters, whaddya want?!

August 5, 2009 Full Review

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

The movie's tongue-in-cheek (and pre-subprime) satire of surging capitalist hubris is scarcely mitigated by the necessary fairy-tale ending.

August 5, 2009 Full Review

Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

This is one of the best comedy-horror spoofs ever made. The Double Feature Gift set DVD released in 2005 is basically a repackaging of the previously issued single-disc DVD, plus the sequel. The set has some nice features but it is not quite a must-have.

June 16, 2009 Full Review

Steve Biodrowski

Cinefantastique

All the pieces still come together nicely 25 years after Ghostbusters raked in more than $238 million at the box office.

June 7, 2009 Full Review

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

Stuffed with wisecracking, punning and essential deadpanning care of the film's most notable star performer Murray (who has such delivery down as a fine art), the film also packs in a half-decent narrative.

May 6, 2008 Full Review

Daniel Etherington

Film4

See website for more details.

March 24, 2008 Full Review

Rory L. Aronsky

Screen It!

Fantastic all the way

March 2, 2008

Stefan Birgir Stefansson

sbs.is

With his deadpan delivery and snide quips, Murray more than holds his own amid the myriad state-of-the-art special effects.

May 30, 2007 Full Review

TV Guide's Movie Guide

• 1. Peter Venkman: Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown.
  – Submitted by Swayamdeep S (3 months ago)
• 1. Peter Venkman: Back of man, I'm a Scientist.
  – Submitted by Crispin T (3 months ago)
• 1. Peter Venkman: Alice, I'm going to ask you a couple of standard questions, ok? Have you or any of your family ever been diagnosed Schizophrenic? Mentally incompetent?
  2. Librarian: My uncle thought he was St. Jerome.
  3. Peter Venkman: I'd call that a big yes.
  – Submitted by Jarryd R (4 months ago)
• 1. Winston Zeddmore: Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'YES'!
  – Submitted by Allison V (5 months ago)
• 1. Peter Venkman: I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! Let's do it!
  – Submitted by Zach S (5 months ago)
• 1. Peter Venkman: Alright... let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown.
  – Submitted by Jared B (8 months ago)

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